Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement in response to Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), cancelling a Wednesday meeting with her for January 15 and refusing to reschedule the meeting until the week of January 26 after his confirmation vote:
“I expect every nominee to be willing to meet with Senators, regardless of their party, to answer basic questions about how they would approach their role if confirmed. Conducting these meetings is the absolute bare minimum given the role of each Senator and the constituents they represent. And should Pete Hegseth be confirmed, we have to be able to meet and communicate.
“Even beyond the deep concerns I have regarding his character and fitness for the job, I, like all other Senators, need to be able to discuss with Mr. Hegseth his thinking and approach to the many threats and challenges we face around the globe—whether it’s competition with China or aggression from Russia.
“If Pete Hegseth is determined to make the role of Secretary and Department of Defense partisan by refusing to meet with Senators as part of his confirmation process—then he shouldn’t be confirmed as Secretary of Defense. I think most Americans would agree that you shouldn’t get the job if you decide you can just skip the job interview. Mr. Hegseth’s refusal thus far to commit to meet with me before a confirmation vote is unacceptable and I hope all of my colleagues will condemn this unprecedented effort to ignore the Senate’s role to advise and consent.”
As the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray helps author and negotiate defense spending each year. In Fiscal Year 2024, Murray prioritized investments in our servicemembers and military families, including by delivering on a 5.2% pay raise for servicemembers, expanding child care services, increasing funding for sexual assault prevention services, and boosting mental health and suicide prevention resources. Senator Murray also played a leading role in negotiating and delivering on a comprehensive national security supplemental in April of 2024 to extend aid to Ukraine, provide badly needed humanitarian relief, and support key partners in the Indo Pacific while deterring aggression by the Chinese government.
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